It is inevitable many people will drink on New Year’s Eve. But safety needs to take a higher priority than entertainment.

The National Weather Service is calling for snow tonight continuing through noon on New Year’s Day. This adds another element of risk to an already dangerous travel day which, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, has seen five drunken driving crashes in Minnesota the past five years.

Most people who drive impaired don’t plan to do so, but they do make plans to drink. A lot of times the decision to drive drunk is the result of poor planning.

Other times, it is the result of friends or family members not stepping in when someone makes a bad decision. In principle it’s easy to say you will stop friends and loved ones from driving drunk. It’s another thing to actually intervene when the situation arises.

This New Year’s Eve looks to be a treacherous travel day without adding impaired drivers to the mix. Make travel arrangements along with the party planning, and then hold yourself and others accountable. Yours and others’ well-being needs to take top priority this year.